Liberals rally for jobs, unity

Liberal activists who rallied in Washington Saturday seemed as concerned about bridging the divide between Democrats and disillusioned progressives as they were about promoting civil rights and other social issues.

The “One Nation Working Together” rally at the National Mall touched on themes of immigration reform, more funding for schools and equal rights for gays.

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But more than anything else, the day was about jobs – an issue President Barack Obama and other Democrats admittedly have stumbled over in the past year but will need to seize in coming weeks if they hope to fend off big Republican gains in Congress on Nov. 2.

“This is a march for jobs,” said Benjamin Jealous, president of the NAACP and a lead organizer of the rally, which attracted thousands of liberal activists to the National Mall.

With the national unemployment rate still hovering at 9.6 percent and millions of Americans out of work, the economy has become the No. 1 issue facing voters. And polls show Republicans with the advantage on that issue — a key focus of the tea party movement that has energized the GOP this election cycle.

Despite efforts by the Obama administration and the Democrat-led Congress to jump-start the economy – and proclamations by experts the recession is over – Americans are still feeling jittery about the nation’s fiscal health. Many on both left and right feel the administration has been distracted by lesser issues and has failed to focus on restoring jobs.

That anxiety was palpable among many attending Saturday’s rally.

Ala Obey, 23, who is studying social work at West Virginia’s Concord University, came to Washington for the first time Saturday to seek reassurance she’ll find work when she graduates.

“It is definitely terrifying when you spend all this money to go to school and are thousands of dollars in debt,” she said. “It’s scary to think when I get done, I might not have a job.”

The jobs theme also was underscored by the thousands of union members – easily identified by their bright-colored matching T-shirts – that were bused to the four-hour event from as far as Michigan, Ohio and New York. The American Federation of Teachers said they had representatives from all 50 states.

Labor leaders sought to tie the insurgent tea party movement with the Wall Street bankers and investors who Democrats have blamed for the nation’s economic woes.

“Behind the voices of fear and hatred that have risen to dominate out national conversation are the forces of greed, the moneyed powers that put us in the economic mess we’re in today. And we’ve got a lot of work to do to repair the damage that greed did to our country,” Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, said while standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

“We come together today because America needs jobs, good jobs, jobs that support families—all families,” he added. “Jobs that give our young people paths of opportunity, not obstacles. Jobs that allow people to retire with dignity.”